Chapter 18: Earth

When Zhou Donghuang had arrived at Yunxuan Restaurant this time around, the servant girls and waiters looked at him with a look of respect and even worship from the moment he entered. Evidently, they all knew about the events that had occurred at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild that afternoon.

Now, Zhou Donghuang had killed Chief Steward Li Xian of Yunxuan Restaurant, and as he walked out of Yunxuan Restaurant, the look that a group of servant girls and waiters gave him carried more than a tinge of dread as if he was some kind of sea monster.

"What is your name?" Zhou Donghuang turned to ask the waiter who had followed him out to see him off.

Although Yunxuan Restaurant had much staff, this waiter was the only one who had dared to follow him out to see him off; all the others seemed to have their legs turned into lead and did not even dare move.

"Boss, call me 'Fu.'"

The waiter was about seventeen or eighteen years old, tall and well-built, and a simple and honest smile spread across his plain face at Zhou Donghuang's question.

"Hmm," Zhou Donghuang nodded. "For the next few days, you will be the surrogate chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant and manage Yunxuan Restaurant in place of Li Xian... if you do well, you shall be the new chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant."

Not waiting for Fu to recover his wits, Zhou Donghuang turned to leave.

"Thank you, Boss!"

Fu finally gave a start and recovered his wits. He followed Zhou Donghuang's distant figure with his gaze for a long time, his eyes and face full of excitement and gratitude.

The rest of the servant girls and waiters of Yunxuan Restaurant felt like slapping themselves when they heard Zhou Donghuang's words to Fu... why had they not followed Zhou Donghuang out like Fu?

However, there was no cure for regret, and Fu's bravery had earned him his reward.

After leaving Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang went to the Sunset Guild.

"Young Master Donghuang."

In the receiving chamber of the Sunset Guild, Guild Master Hong Yue of the Sunset Guild showed Zhou Donghuang to the best seat with a humble smile on his face.

"May I ask, what business brings you here today?"

Actually, Hong Yue's heart was beating furiously, as he was worried that by leaking the formula for the blood-staunching elixir, Chen Dandan might have brought Zhou Donghuang's anger upon him by association.

Zhou Donghuang was powerful enough to kill him with a single blow.

"These herbs, gather them all for me in two days."

Zhou Donghuang requested a piece of paper from Hong Yue and listed down the names of the herbs.

"Of course, I will pay for them. If you are unable to gather these herbs in two days... Yunxuan Restaurant will not lend money to the Sunset Guild again in the future."

Putting down the piece of paper, Zhou Donghuang rose and strode out of the receiving chamber of the Sunset Guild.

Hong Yue was left alone holding the piece of paper, a bitter smile on his face.

This Young Master Zhou Donghuang has really given me a problem. There is no way these herbs can be gathered in such a short period of time in Qingshan Town...

It seems the only solution is to send someone on a fast horse to do rounds in the neighboring towns. That should allow me to gather all these herbs in two days.

The Sunset Guild, just like the Magnolia Guild, would borrow money from time to time when it needed more funds.

Now that Zhou Donghuang was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, it would only take a word from him to break the close borrower-and-lender relationship that the Sunset Guild had built up with Yunxuan Restaurant over the years.

Moreover, if Yunxuan Restaurant refused to lend money to the Sunset Guild, the several lesser families of Qingshan Town would definitely not lend money readily to the Sunset Guild for fear of offending Zhou Donghuang.

Today, outside the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang made himself a legend when he stepped over Wang Yukun's corpse... From now on, Qingshan Town's list of prominent people will have lost a Wang Yukun and gained a Zhou Donghuang.

Hong Yue was completely clear that this was a significant development, and he would spare no effort to complete the task Zhou Donghuang had given him, no matter how difficult it was.

As he left the Sunset Guild, Zhou Donghuang's eyes narrowed slightly.

I put Hong Yue under great pressure, he should be able to gather the herbs for me in two days... when that time comes, I can formulate an even better qi-gathering elixir which will allow me to further increase my rate of practice!

This way, I will be able to attain level-one of the gathered qi even sooner.

The herbs that Zhou Donghuang had written out for Hong Yue earlier were those that the Magnolia Guild did not have, and although it would be difficult to gather them from within Qingshan Town on such short notice, there was a good chance of gathering them from the several small neighboring towns around Qingshan Town.

On the way back to the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang recalled something.

Today is the twenty-first day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era... Tomorrow will be the twenty-second day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.

In my previous life, tomorrow was when that mad cultist would appear before me and bring me to Earth. The mad cultist was drawn to me because of the seal within my body... now, the seal has been removed, and he will not be drawn to me and bring me to Earth as before.

However, although he will not bring me away, he will definitely still go to Earth... because he was originally on his way to Earth and noticed the seal within my body just as he was passing Ziyun. He took an interest in it which was why he brought me along with him to Earth.

The mad cultist was a deranged, sloppily dressed old practitioner, and it was for this reason that Zhou Donghuang called him a "mad cultist."

He knew nothing regarding the mad cultist's origins.

Previously, after the mad cultist had helped him remove the seal from his body on Earth, he had vanished completely, and he had not seen the mad cultist again even after he had left Earth.

Earth...

Thinking of Earth caused a look of longing to flash across Zhou Donghuang's eyes.

That beautiful azure planet was the planet he had spent the most time on in his previous life, and he considered it his home.

Before he arrived on Earth, he had never in his wildest dreams imagined that there would be such a curiously unique planet, where the Martial Way had died away and where science was dominant, where there were so many wondrous modes of transport: Bicycles, motorbikes, trishaws, cars, airplanes, and so much more.

Only several days after arriving on Earth did he learn that a holiday could be turned into an occasion for frenzied shopping.

Previously, the date when he had arrived on Earth was November the fifth, 2018 in the Earth Era.

November the eleventh, 2018 in the Earth Era was Singles' Day, and also a day when everyone went crazy shopping.

When I have the ability to physically travel across the stars, I will go and visit Earth... there are several friends there who have helped me greatly and who are waiting for me to go and change their fate!

Previously on Earth, Zhou Donghuang had met many people who had helped him out not long after he arrived on Earth. Later, some among them had encountered severe trials which he had helped them overcome.

In this life, the mad cultist would not bring him to Earth, and those people would surely not recognize him.

However, their trials would still occur. Therefore, Zhou Donghuang decided to visit Earth to help them overcome these trials. Otherwise, this would surely become a regret in his heart.

But it is too early to be thinking of these matters... the most important thing now is to attain level-one of the gathered qi.

Upon returning to the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang resumed his seclusion, concentrating fully on practicing the Way of the Four Supremes.

He did not sleep for the rest of the day and night, and practiced till the morning of the next day. Then he left his room and went to his mother's.

"Donghuang, what kind of wound-healing elixir did you give me yesterday that can heal such serious internal injuries in one night?"

When Zhou Donghuang entered, Lin Lan was already out of bed. She was light and refreshed as though nothing had happened to her. "What's more, my whole body feels light and energetic, and I have not felt so relaxed in a very long time."

"Mother, that is a wound-healing elixir I made... it was only one bottle, and the herbs I used exceeded thirty liang of silver in value. How could it be ineffective?" Zhou Donghuang laughed.

"Thirty liang of silver?" Lin Lan was so shocked that she turned pale. "The cost of just that one bottle of wound-healing elixir exceeds thirty liang of silver?"

"Mother, you are the most familiar with your wounds from yesterday... a wound-healing elixir that heals wounds of such severity in a single day and night, how much would it cost on the market?" Zhou Donghuang asked with a smile.

"My wounds from yesterday, not only my ribs and meridians were damaged, but also my internal organs slightly were wounded and even moved slightly out of place..." Lin Lan muttered to herself, thinking. The more she thought, the more shocked she became.

People would be fighting to buy a wound-healing elixir of this effectiveness, even if it was priced at a hundred liang of silver on the market!

As the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan could estimate very accurately the prices of goods on the market.

"Using widely available wound-healing elixirs on the market, my wounds would take at least ten to fifteen days to heal to this extent. Which is to say... the value of this wound-healing elixir exceeds the value of the widely available wound-healing elixirs on the market by ten!"

Her muttering ended, and Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang with light in her eyes, just like a starving wolf finding its prey.

"Donghuang... do you have the formula for this kind of wound-healing elixir?"

Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang naturally knew that Lin Lan's nose for business had been triggered. Smiling, he shook his head and threw a wet blanket on Lin Lan's hopes.

"Mother, don't forget that the Magnolia Guild has fallen. Moreover, do you think we can openly sell this kind of wound-healing elixir just like that? Think about it... in the country of Yunyang, how effective was the best wound-healing elixir that has ever existed?"

Within the country of Yunyang, the best wound-healing elixir that had ever existed was the one made by the superior-level medicine master of the Imperial Court. Its effectiveness was only two times greater than the widely available wound-healing elixirs on the market.

At Zhou Donghuang's reminder, Lin Lan recovered her sense of reason and said with a serious face, "Your mother was too emotional just now... this wound-healing elixir must not be disseminated!"

The saying "an innocent commoner whose possession of treasure makes him guilty" was naturally familiar to Lin Lan, having been the guild master of the Magnolia Guild for so many years.